TED 633- Discussion Week 4, Post 2, Reflection

This course was the last one of my credential sequence. It has been a nice review of over arching concepts learned through the sequence. I’ve enjoyed looking at ways to integrate technology into my lesson plans. I feel fortunate to be on the younger end of the spectrum- because I use many of these pieces of technology in multiple areas of my life, so integrating them in my classroom is no big deal or hassle. I also think it helps to always have an open mind when it comes to technology. If there is something you’d like to use in your classroom, ask for help. There is no statue saying as a teacher we must always know how to do or use everything. I’ve definitely asked students to use their expertise when it comes to flipping YouTube videos around so we can learn choreography, or slowing down videos so we can watch them slower. I have students in my music ensembles that are great at making movies and animations, and it is great to be able to have them create content to be used in the music concerts alongside the music. I do want to continue to find more ways to use technology to aid in student learning, especially for those in choir who don’t necessarily play piano and rely on just classroom time to learn the music.

TED 633- Week 3, Assignment 3B

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I choose to report out on the day 4 and 5 portion of my teaching plan. I do feel quite fortunate, because I am in an active classroom setting where I can apply not only the pre-assessments, and assessments, but also the content teaching and conveying of information. The daily dialogue and exchange between students and teacher has provided the most valuable feedback, that I feel would be different had I been taking these courses in an isolated “academic” setting. I also think there is a huge difference between running a class on your own, versus being a student teacher in a classroom with another teacher. When you are there in the class on your own, you are responsible for everything. There is no relying on a mentor teacher to come in a save you, should your classroom management be sub-par, or if you are under prepared. I have thoroughly enjoyed working and planning and preparing with my master teacher outside the classroom, and I think that has given me more ownership over the classroom, and the students have bought into my vision for the courses and ensembles that I lead. It also helps that I am involved with other ensembles that the other music teachers work with, so by extension I am viewed as a member of the larger teaching team.

I have found that the students respond more to working on the repertoire then the scale study and chorale work that is part of the warm ups. If the warm ups are presented as cold, old fashioned, and simply “something we do at the top of class,” then they have less buy in and participation. When the warm ups are directly connected, and even interspersed with pieces of the repertoire, then the students make more connections between the warm ups and the repertoire, even before I walk them through the connection. When students can hear and see the connection between why we are using the warm up and chorales and how they connect to the repertoire, they challenge themselves to be truly “warmed up” to play the pieces. Student buy-in and motivation is better then any teacher driven motivation I can offer.

The students always did better on the scales and chorales the second time. Students were able to identify passages they could perform better, or play more smoothly or with more emotion. Once I turned to treating the chorales as mini repertoire pieces, the students played them as such, and not just as warm ups. Sometimes a mindset change is all that is needed for improvement. Authentic assessment is incorporated in one form or another, as I am constantly looking for student improvement over time. After each rehearsal, I evaluate the ensemble’s performance and find out what the class needs to work on in order to build upon or improve a weakness. All the rehearsals culminate in a concert or performance, and in the case of competitive marching band, we even get feedback from esteemed adjudicators on our strengths and weaknesses.

Because my classrooms are always a mix of grades 9-12 (with the exception of Freshmen Band and Freshmen Orchestra), differentiated instruction and assessment is a must. I did have a few ELL students in my classroom. To accommodate assessment methods for ELL students, I word directions or instruction another way, or sing how a passage should be performed. Because so much of the grading is based on non-verbal performance, ELL students typically do not have a hard time following along. In addition, music notation is a language itself and all students are on the same “playing field” when it comes to reading notes; they all have to learn what each note means. I also use universal gestures while conducting to give non-verbal instruction to students during a performance of a piece. An example of this is putting myarm out, palm up; this is the symbol for more volume. Similarly, by putting my palm down, this signals students to decrease their volume. I am able to assess student performance based on if they follow my gestures or not.

TED 633- Week 3, Assignment 3A

:: Pre-Assessment Analysis ::

I have used all of my pre-assessments before. I use them daily in my classroom as I’m introducing new concepts. I used all of these assessments in my class during the first semester. In this particular unit plan, I was looking at scales as the major emphasis. The pre-assessments also serve as a refresher and a reminder of the information learned in previous class sessions. One of my least favorite ones is the one from day 2 “Have students perform the scale without a warm-up on the scale to test their “cold” proficiency on the scale.” I don’t find this to be a good example of authentic assessment. Considering we spend a valuable part of the rehearsal warming up. We are constantly reinforcing the importance of the warm up, and making a connection between the warm up and the rehearsal. Also, a student would never walk into an audition and be asked to play all of it cold, especially scales. Part of an audition is always a cold sight read, but to do it so isolated, probably isn’t the most effective. Also, if you were going to sight read a piece at an audition, you would most likely run yourself through the scale the piece is related to, as well as even identify and finger though a few of the more difficult passages before actually beginning to play.

I do like that the pre-assessments I have listed because they build on one another pretty methodically. These pre-assessments are directly tied to the rubric, as the pre-assessments provide the connection of prior knowledge to the new knowledge to be learned in the coming rehearsal. The pre-assessments are also directly linked to the musical proficiency that the students are assessed on in the rubric.

Musical proficiency is perhaps the most objective criteria in the assessment. Each quarter students are given assignments that they need to be able to perform. This could be a set of scales in different key signatures, an etude, or a passage of music from repertoire that we are currently working on in class. Rhythm and pitch is either correct or incorrect, so students get a numerical grade next to each category depending on how he or she performed. The numbers are then tallied up on a rubric to calculate how a student did overall. This helps students discover their strengths and areas they need to improve on. For instance, a student may excel at producing great tone quality, but score poorly on sight-reading and rhythm.

TED 633- Assignment 1A

:: Personality and Learning Style ::

My name is Andrew Ford, and I am currently teaching at Saratoga High School, in Saratoga California, which is part of the Los Gatos Saratoga Joint Union High School District. I teach choir, band and orchestra to students in grades 9-12. I am working towards a single subject credential in music, and will finish my Masters in Education soon after the credential process as well.

I remember from a young age, I wanted to be an astronaut, and explore space. When I reached high school in 2001 that changed slightly, and I became interested in architecture and design. After 4 years of drafting and design in high school, I began my degree progress as an Interior Designer major. Both my parents are music educators, and I play instruments and sing as well. Slowly all of the jobs I was finding myself in were music related, and I figured I should have some academic knowledge to legitimize myself. Eventually I followed my passion to work with students, rather then my dream of working for Disney as part of the resort enhancement team.  I realized one of my strengths is working with people, and helping people make connections between art and life, rather then just singing or playing for the sake of singing or playing. I do find myself using those design skills  in my every day life- in concert program design, costume and uniform design and execution, and set dressing. I firmly believe that “everything relates to everything”- which is a mantra I teach by. 

I really want to earn my Doctor of Music degree in choral conducting, with a historic specialty in English Renaissance Music. Aside from music, I enjoy shoes, shopping and the (S)cinema. I love to travel and Disneyland is my guilty pleasure- I live in northern Cali and I have an annual pass... :) 
 
I've always enjoyed taking the personality tests. The first time I took a Myers-Briggs test, I was in my 1st year of Junior College, I was 18. My results places me as an ENFJ. The MMDI survey for this course thinks my personality is closest to the ESFJ stereotype and 2nd closest to ENFJ. As an ESFJ I seek to develop harmony in relationships, and promote cooperation and teamwork. I regard the needs of others as very important, perhaps more so than your own, and seek to recognize their contributions and make them feel valued. You encourage and motivate others, engender team spirit, and try to overcome any conflict by finding common ground and ways in which people can agree

It's an interesting comparison between ESFJ and ENFJ, with the differences being how one deals with working with others. An ESFJ places slightly more importance on others and their potential then the ENFJ. As an ENFJ then I would be someone who seeks to develop and promote personal growth in your friends, family or colleagues. You sometimes have a sense of their potential which may extend beyond how they see themselves. You also seek to develop the potential within relationships or the team. However, you don't push so hard that it creates conflict, because keeping the harmony in your relationships is also important.

Breaking down the  personality assessment further, my survey produced the following results.

E (Extrovert) - 53                      I (Introvert) - 47
Action - Words                          Thought - Ideas
People - Things                         Images - Information

My results suggest I like a close balance between extraversion and introversion. When I am extraverting, I direct energy into dealing with people and things. I tend to take action, bounce ideas off people, and let people know your thoughts or feelings. When introverting, I direct energy towards ideas and information. Tending to concentrate on a few issues quite deeply, and think things through before taking action. What the results suggest is the degree of balance I like between them.

S (Sensation) - 55                       N (Intuition)- 45
Facts - Experience                      Possibility - Potential
Realism - Practical                     Imagination - Conjecture

The preference for sensing means I like to deal with reality, with facts, tangible outcomes, and specific information. I use intuition, though to a lesser degree. It looks at possibilities, at hidden potential, new ways of doing things, or what is not yet known. This preference can have a big impact in areas such as communication or management. For example, people who prefer sensing like to have specific objectives, but those who prefer intuition like to have objectives that allow space for interpretation.

T (Thinking) - 38 (objective values)             F (Feeling) - 62 (subjective values)
Objective - Analytical                                   Subjective - Value-driven
Truth - Correctness                                        Morality - Likeability

The preference for Feeling means I use subjective values, taking a more personal, subjective view as a participant, and tending to appreciate the important things in life. I also use Thinking, but to a lesser degree. Thinking involves using objective principles, taking a detached, objective view as an onlooker, and tending to analyze or see inconsistencies.


J (judgement) - 58                       P (Perception) - 42
Structure - Planned                      Go with the flow - Spontaneous
Stable - Consistency                    Responsive - Variety

Having a preference for judgment suggests I like to structure and control life, sticking to decisions once I have made them. To a lesser extent, I sometimes use perception, which involves being more spontaneous and flexible, going with the flow. This preference can sometimes cause stress in relationships. For example, in many situations Js often feel more comfortable with a plan, but Ps feel more comfortable if things are left unplanned - and they may leave things to the last minute. When doing tasks together, this can cause conflict.

From when I initially took the personality test as an 18 year old, to now being 29, the significant change is in the S and N category. From the personality results and my innate desire to see people succeed to the fullest of their potential, and working together for common goals, I think I am well suited to be a teacher. I feel like my personality type makes me an approachable teacher, who will show empathy towards my students, and show that I desire to know about their lives, not simply "teach them music."

LEARNING STYLE RESULTS:

Results for: Andrew Ford


      ACT                  X                                REF
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- --="">

      SEN                                              X    INT
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- --="">

      VIS      X                                            VRB
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- --="">

      SEQ                      X                            GLO
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- --="">

• If your score on a scale is 1-3, you are fairly well balanced on the two dimensions of that scale.
• If your score on a scale is 5-7, you have a moderate preference for one dimension of the scale and will learn more easily in a teaching environment which favors that dimension.
• If your score on a scale is 9-11, you have a very strong preference for one dimension of the scale. You may have real difficulty learning in an environment which does not support that preference. 

These results for learning style are quite revealing. I would agree that I am pretty balanced when it comes to Active and Reflective Learning, as well as Sequential and Global Learning. It is unquestioned form my own experience that I am a visual learner, and that I do not like memorization of facts and data make me quite the intuitive learner.  Even in my own field of music, I have always had a hard time memorizing dates of history or even text for a song. IN my own music classroom I definitely cater to the learning style I am most comfortable with. I always show clips of movies, or visuals that relate to what we are playing. I give equal time to group discussion and individual reflection. I try and give linear steps to an assignment or even hints for how to practice, but always summarize why we are doing what we are doing, or how it will help us achieve our goal.